This article is long overdue and it’s really important for both new players of the Assault game mode in SMITE, and the more seasoned ones so that they can pass the basics to the newcomers more easily. This article will be divided into subsections that will explain Assault game mode from top to bottom, and we hope that this will lead to a better experience for every SMITE player that likes playing Assault (which was at some point in SMITE’s history the most popular game mode!).
Complete SMITE Assault Game Mode Tutorial for Friends and Family
The guide will be updated and expanded as time passes, so make sure to bookmark and check it from time to time.
God “Selection” Phase
So, you’ve queued up and have received your randomly assigned God. It’s time to take a quick look at what you have as a team. As a team, you’re looking to have 1 or 2 Tanks (Warrior or Guardian), 1 or 2 Mages, 1 or 2 Hunters, and MAYBE an Assassin that’s good for Assault. In this phase, it is extremely important to be present in the Lobby Chat and not be AFK. You need to help your team arrange the team’s line-up, reroll your own God if it’s bad, and help someone else reroll their own God if they rerolled into an even worse God…
Also, when the countdown clock drops to 10, you can no longer reroll, just trade, so keep that in mind as well. Realistically speaking, everything can be arranged long before then if people are co-operative enough.Offer your God for trade before rerolling unless your God is absolute garbage.
Gods to Always Reroll vs Gods to Never Reroll in SMITE Assault
This is somewhat of a Tier List for Assault, yes. You can’t reroll Healers in Assault, so you’re stuck with them. If your team has a healer, opponents will also have a healer. If you have 5 Magical or 5 Physical Gods in the team, you need to sacrifice 1 or 2 just to diversify your damage output, so that the opponents cannot easily counter your team. Reroll costs 125 favor, which will be easily earned back, so do not worry.
Related:Best Gods in SMITE: SMITE Gods Tier List
Loading Screen and First Minute of Assault in SMITE
During Loading, you will be able to see what you are playing against, and you may already start planning on different strategies.
You are looking for their healing capabilities (so that Divine Ruin, Brawler’s Beatstick, or Tainted Steel may be immediately introduced to your team) and for their damage type (so that you may see which protections to build), and to check if they have Ares, Cerberus, Xing Tian, or anything worth buying Beads against (if you do not have a CC Immune ability).
Related:SMITE God Release Dates Sorted Chronologically
Best Relics for SMITE in Assault
Usually, the first Relic isMeditationfor most Gods, because your team will need some sustainsince returning to the fountain is not possible. Some players buyChalice of Healingand/orChalice of Manaas well because it pays itself off after your 2nd death (please try not to die a lot). Alternatives for Meditation are usually Blink (when you need to engage with Ares, for example) andBeads(when you do not want to get pulled back by Ares, for example).
Ankhis good at ruining the enemies’ heals during a fight,Phantom Shellis great at running away from Odin’s ulti, and you can also getAegisif you want to stop yourself from being bursted down.
Before using Meditation, try to ask people to group up (VVVG). The same goes for healing orbs on the map.
First Item to Buy in Assault Game Mode in SMITE
There’s always a lot of fighting regarding item purchase choices some people make in Assault because some players have not yet adopted the concept of how Assault works (inability to go back to the Fountain to heal and buy new stuff without dying).
Buying the right items at the start can significantly help your team to prevail in the first few team fights (which are very important early game), and buying the wrong items can literally hand over the game to the enemy team because you’ve left yourself without a fighting chance intentionally, whether it’s knowingly or unknowingly.
It’s time to stop making excuses. Every team should have both Heartward Amulet and Sovereignty at the start(sometimes even in cases where one damage type doesn’t exist on the other team). If you do not have two tanks, usually an Assassin picks up the slack and buys the item that the tank does not buy, or instead, a Healer Mage picks up Heartward so that the heals can be cast more frequently.
So, let’s say that you square off in a small clash 5v5, nobody dies, and you all fall back to your towers. The team without these two items is now at a disadvantage because time does not work for them.
BuyingGauntlet of Thebesbefore these two items is incredibly selfish and are bad for the team. Yes, it protects the team when it evolves, but one or two team fights will happen before that point. Naturally, Gauntlet of Thebes is a great third-priority item for tanks. Talisman of Energy is also very useful due to the MP5, Movement Speed, and Attack Speed bonuses, but only after the other three listed items. Other auras, such as Shogun’s Kusari can significantly help your Hunters (and Freya, Chronos…) later down the line, so consider these too if you’re a tank. Pestilence/Contagion is a must when the Healers are in play. Just don’t duplicate auras because theyDO NOT STACK.
Tanks usually buy Watcher’s Gift, Warrior’s Axe, or War Flag as their Starter Item, but you can adjust this according to the situation, in agreement with your team.
When it comes to Hunters and Assassins, your first item might be something along these lines:
The starter item is also subject to change, depending on the situation. Still, usually, it might be Bluestone Pendant if you have a lot of poke abilities, Hunter’s Cowl if you want some more Attack Speed, or Warrior’s Axe…
When it comes to Mages, you will mostly build one of these items as your first one:
In most cases, the Starter Item for Mages can be either Bluestone, Vampiric Shroud, or Conduit Gem. Sands of Time are good on paper, but this item does not pay off in the long run.
Ok, we have arranged our God picks, went and bought our first items and relics; now what?
Assault Early Game Strategy in SMITE
Try to make your purchases as fast as possible and get to the front tower. Often, fights happen before minions spawn, so be ready. Do not leave your teammates hanging by endlessly choosing your first item. It is also obligatory to mention a phenomenon called “Assault Jump Party”. Players often jump repeatedly into the center of the map without damaging each other until minions spawn when everyone starts their peaceful retreat.
This is a character litmus test. Be ready for sudden and underhanded attacks by people who are not accustomed to this tradition, especially from Ares, Xing Tian, and Cerberus, who can’t wait to get an easy pick-up. We’ve seen situations where the Assault Jump Party Pooper™ gets singled out, focused the entire game, and set up for a feed report after the game, so don’t be that person. When minions arrive, everyone’s free game.
At 2:00, four Healing Orbs spawn. One is on the main lane wall, the second in the off-lane, and the two between the two towers. Use your VGS to signal a retreat or a group up so that the teammates know what’s happening.
From the moment of picking up the Orb, it will respawn after 2 minutes. This might be hard to track, so try to focus on two middle Orbs. The Pie Chart icon that replaces the Orb icon when Orb is picked up will fill in eight increments of 15 seconds, so you may also spot the last eighth of its cycle and then understand that the Orb is coming in 15 seconds or less.
The philosophy is pretty simple in hindsight, but for someone new to Assault, this might be a nightmare:
Mid and Late Game Strategy for Assault
Related:Top 5 Smite Esports Players of All Time
That’s… Generally it. Even though it looks like a science article (over 2,600 words), these are some of the basics. We hope this helped and that you will find great enjoyment in this crazy random mode in SMITE!
Nikola has been a Staff Writer at Prima Games since May 2022. He has been gaming since being able to hold an Amiga 500 joystick on his own, back in the early 90s (when gaming was really good!). Nikola has helped organize dozens of gaming events and tournaments and has been professionally attached to gaming since 2009.
